MANCHESTER, Conn. — A family full of frustration over the investigation into the disappearance of 22-year-old aspiring pharmacist Sherrian Howe seven weeks ago resulted in a Thursday press conference at the Manchester Police Department.
Howe, who could be seen early on the morning of Dec. 21 on surveillance video leaving the Manchester home she shared with her brother and sister-in-law, was depressed, according to her family. But, they do not believe she is suicidal, despite Manchester Police saying evidence suggests otherwise.
According to family, police also allegedly told them they believe she may have runaway with someone.
But, the family says police should be moving with more urgency to resolve this case.
"After seven weeks of having the laptop, which may have information where she is, the police are unable to get into that laptop," said Keren Prescott, a Howe family friend.
The reason police couldn't access the laptop: it had no power. But, the family says, police never told them this until a Wednesday meeting, during which they also learned police could not access Sherrian's cell phone because the screen is cracked.
"They are now telling the family they are now going to send the screen to get fixed," said a disgusted Prescott.
Another frustration: several hours after she left home in December, her bank records showed her card made a purchase from IHOP in Bloomfield, but the family says Manchester police have not gone to IHOP to look at their surveillance video because they say they would need a search warrant.
"The IHOP manager advised us they didn’t need a warrant but if we came in with a Bloomfield police officer they would allow the officer to view that footage," Prescott added.
But, as of Wednesday, the family says Manchester Police had not yet invited Bloomfield Police to join the case, which they would have to do.
The family says Sherrian, a student at Capital Community College, was described as a reserved homebody. The police investigation revealed she checked into the Days Inn in Windsor locks the same day she left home. The following day, pizza ordered to be delivered to the hotel using her bank card.
"But they (person who ordered) didn’t leave Sherrian‘s phone number," Prescott noted. "They left a different phone number and so the family asked have the police called that phone number and as of yet the police have not called that phone number."
Her car was allegedly discovered Dec. 23 by Windsor Locks Police in the parking lot of the Windsor Locks CVS. But the family says Manchester Police told them they were not notified about that discovery until five days later, Dec. 28.
The family was also dismayed that it took police eight days to issue a silver alert. Bottom line: they believe race is a factor in what they call an investigation with many holes.
"During yesterday's sit down, we were speculating that they were doing the bare minimum, but they proved to us yesterday in that sit down that they are definitely doing the bare minimum," said Nyesha Howe, who is Sherrian Howe's sister-in-law.
The family says the last contact they had with her was Dec. 22, the day after leaving, when they emailed her and asked her to confirm that she is OK by responding with a video, including her saying that day's date, to prove she was OK. But, the response they received was simply a video of her waving without saying anything.
Police told the family they did find a note in her hotel room that simply said goodbye and listed the phone numbers of her brother and sister-in-law. And the family says cops did perform a handing writing analysis and believe the note was indeed written by Sherrian.
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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